


Read the Words on the Sign

by mithrel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Blanket Permission, Established Relationship, First Kiss, First Time, Jealousy, M/M, Marking, Podfic Welcome, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-21
Updated: 2010-07-21
Packaged: 2017-11-13 14:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/504268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithrel/pseuds/mithrel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas pulls Sam out of Hell, so he has a mark like Dean’s.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Read the Words on the Sign

After the first month with Lisa, Dean’s restless. He hasn’t stayed in one place this long since he was a kid and Dad left him and Sam on their own while he hunted.

After two months he has to work to keep from snapping at her. She doesn’t deserve that just for asking if he’s OK.

After three months he leaves. He can’t deal with the apple-pie life.

A week after he’s started hunting again he opens the door to see Sam.

***

After he’s put Sam through all the tests he can think of (salt, iron, holy water…he even takes a picture of him to make sure he isn’t a shifter) Dean stares at his brother, impossibly back from Hell.

“Sat-?” Sam starts, but breaks off when Dean grabs his shoulders and pulls him into a hug.

Sam hugs him back, and Dean doesn’t let go for a long time.

“How?” Dean croaks after he’s finally pulled away.

For answer, Sam pulls off his flannel, which he’d kept on the whole time, and now Dean can see why. There’s a livid red handprint on his shoulder, and the thumb shows outside his shirt.

Dean stares for a moment, then manages, “Cas?”

“Who else would have done it?” Sam asks rhetorically.

Dean takes a moment to process that. He’d felt drawn to Cas since he first met him, and when they finally got together Cas had explained why. When Cas pulled him out of Hell he’d formed a connection with him. The thought of Cas having that kind of connection with Sam…well, it makes something hot and angry coil in his stomach, not to mention making him feel a little sick, since he’s not sure if Sam will know if he does anything with Cas… But Cas is gone now, so the point’s moot anyway. “When’d you get out?”

Sam’s lips move, and Dean knows he’s trying to figure out the time difference. “About…a week after Stull Cemetery?”

“A _week!_ ” Dean bursts out. “Why the hell didn’t you call?” _So he wasn’t in Hell for even three years…What the fuck am I talking about_ even, _it’s_ Hell!

“I…I thought you were happy where you were–”

“Like I could ever be happy while my _brother was in Hell!_ ” Dean cuts in.

“–but the last time I went to Lisa’s you weren’t there,” Sam finishes. “I figured you’d gone back to hunting, so I went looking for you.”

 _What the fuck? He was_ checking on me _but he never let me know he got out?_ “So just what exactly have you been doing with yourself for the three months your brother was convinced you were in Hell?”

Sam winces, but replies, “Hunting, mostly.”

“On your own?”

Sam shrugs. “I’ve done it before.”

When Dean was in Hell. But that wasn’t hunting, that was obsession. “So now what?”

“You need a partner?”

Sam actually sounds _uncertain,_ like he thinks Dean won’t want him around anymore. “You kidding?”

Sam grins. It’s strained, but there, and Dean finds himself grinning back.

***

About a month after that Dean’s eating a taco while Sam farts around on his laptop when Cas suddenly appears with a rush of wings. He almost chokes. “ _Jesus!_ ”

Cas frowns slightly. “Hello, Dean.” He turns to Sam, who’s staring at him. “Sam.”

“What the fuck are you _doing_ here?” Dean splutters. “I thought you were off whipping Heaven into shape!”

“The situation is stabilized for the moment.”

“So, what, you thought you’d just stop by and say hello? How’d you even find us anyway?” He wasn’t prepared for how angry he’d be, seeing Cas again. The guy’d left without saying goodbye, apparently permanently, and _yes,_ he’d pulled Sam outta Hell, and Dean was grateful, but…

“I have…certain resources at my disposal that I did not have before.”

And, great, they’re back to the cryptic double-talk.

“Did you pull me outta Hell?” Sam demands.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Cas just gives him a look like he’s being stupid.

“I mean, not that I’m not grateful, I just–”

“I had my reasons.”

And apparently the subject is closed, since Cas refuses to answer any more questions about where he’s been or what he’s been doing.

***

A couple days later Cas puts a hand on his arm as he’s about to open the door to the motel room. “Dean.”

“Yeah, what?” He can be an asshole if he wants. Cas has earned it.

“Something is bothering you.”

“What do you care?” he snarls.

Cas cocks his head at him. “Of course I care!”

“Yeah, which is why you _left!_ ” He should have expected it, figured Cas was just making the best of a crappy situation, slumming with a human…

“Dean.” He hasn’t seen that particular grade of glare for awhile, the “Listen very carefully because you are being unreasonable and I have something important to say” look. “I chose to be with you. That hasn’t changed.”

“But you didn’t even say goodbye!”

Cas frowns. “I never do.”

“Well, _yeah,_ but if you were leaving for good…I mean…”

“I’m sorry I left so abruptly, but I wanted to retrieve Sam as soon as possible.”

“That’s another thing!” he says and Cas blinks. “You pulled him outta Hell?”

“Yes. You know that already. I assumed he’d come to find you immediately.”

“But he’s got…I mean you and he are…” Dean cuts off, rubbing his right shoulder where the handprint is.

“Is that what’s bothering you? The mark Sam bears is nothing more than an unusually-shaped scar.”

“But…I thought…”

“A connection formed between us, but I severed it immediately. Now the mark is nothing but an ordinary scar.”

“You can do that?” But he hadn’t done it with him…

Cas nods. “I do not wish to be connected to anyone but you.”

Dean swallows, blinks, then says, “So you sticking around for awhile, then?”

“I believe so.”

“Well, good. Good.”

***

They settle into a routine, hunting the thousand-and-one demons out to make them pay for imprisoning Lucifer.

He and Sam work as well together as they did before, but he can’t help noticing that Sam’s started drinking himself to sleep every night. He should say something, but he can’t bring himself to. It wasn’t that long ago that he was in Hell himself.

By unspoken consent he and Cas have gone back to the beginning of their relationship, since it’s different now that Cas has his mojo back and they’re still working out how.

When there’s a knock at the door Dean shoots a look at Sam, who shrugs and picks up his gun, then goes to open it.

Gabriel’s standing in the doorway, his arms crossed, weight on one foot. He grins at Sam’s thunderstruck expression.

“Y-you’re supposed to be dead!” Sam manages.

“Could say the same for you, Sammy.” Gabriel’s eyes flick to the handprint showing outside Sam’s shirt, then over to Cas, narrowing. “Hey, bro.”

“Gabriel. What happened?”

Gabriel shrugs lazily. “Apparently Dad decided to give me a second chance.”

“You’ve seen Him?” Cas demands sharply.

“Yeah. He’s not coming back anytime soon though. Says you’re doing fine running things.”

Cas looks torn between being pleased and upset at this news. Dean is too busy processing. _First Sam, then Cas, now_ Gabriel? _Who’s next, Ellen and Jo?_

“What are you doing _here?_ ” Dean snaps.

Gabriel grins at him. “I was bored. And you chuckleheads were always good for a laugh.”

“Yeah, well, get lost!”

“Mmm, don’t think so.” Gabriel’s eyes flick to Sam again, and Dean bristles.

***

Gabriel’s been hanging around for a few weeks, sharing a room with Sam, since they can’t fit four people in one room.

Sam thought Dean was gonna bust something when Gabriel suggested sharing a room with him, and he tends to show up unannounced, as if to check on things.

Gabriel’s his old, smug self most of the time, but occasionally he acts weird. Like when Sam gets out of the shower and comes into the room with a towel around his waist. Rather than smirking and making a lewd comment, Gabriel’s eyes snap to the mark on his shoulder as if magnetized, and he disappears with a rush of wind so fierce Sam’s hair is no longer damp when it dies down.

And whenever they’re at a diner Gabriel _always_ makes sure to sit next to him, and spends most of the meal glaring at Cas, going so far as to ignore his food.

The worst part is that Dean seems to find it funny. When Gabriel first showed up he was suspicious and hostile, but now he walks around with an “I-know-something-you-don’t-know” expression.

Between the two of them, Sam’s going to go insane.

***

It’s been more than a month, and Castiel is ignoring Sam, as far as he can tell, concentrating on Dean, but the mark is _there,_ and Sam isn’t even bothering to hide it.

Maybe Castiel and Sam aren’t doing anything, but it doesn’t matter. A connection like that makes a long-term relationship with anyone else impossible.

He doesn’t think about the fact that he apparently wants a long-term relationship with Sam.

There had been bonds like that between angels, long ago. Multiple bonds had been common. Often a garrison would bond together to be able to fight better.

But that’s between angels. Sam and Dean are human. There’s never been anything like this before. Gabriel doesn’t know what the exact effects will be.

Even if he’d had a claim to Sam before, which he hadn’t, Sam won’t be interested unless Gabriel bonds with him. And that would leave Sam bound to both of them and Dean bound to Castiel. Gabriel could bond to Dean (the thought turns his stomach) and to Castiel, but Sam and Dean are human; they can’t bond to each other. It would be unbalanced, incomplete. Unbalanced bonds are dangerous.

Of course the bond Castiel has with the Winchesters is already unbalanced, although Gabriel hasn’t noticed any ill-effects yet.

He finally decides to go talk to his brother.

***

“Hey, bro,” Gabriel says, ambushing Castiel when he comes out of the motel room.

Cas nods at him, guarded. “Gabriel.”

Gabriel supposes he can’t blame him for being wary. The last time they met he’d trapped Cas on _Survivorman_ , and the way he’s been acting lately hasn’t been exactly friendly. “I want to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, bonding to Sam? You’re already bonded to Dean, it’s unbalanced! It might spin out of control, especially since the two of them aren’t exactly sane to begin with!”

“I haven’t,” Cas replies mildly.

Gabriel blinks. “Haven’t what?”

“Haven’t bonded to Sam,” he continues. “I severed the connection as soon as it was formed.”

Gabriel blinks. He’d never considered the possibility that Cas didn’t keep the bond, hadn’t bothered _looking_ for the connection, just assumed it was there. “You did?”

Cas nods. “I have no claim on him. He is free to do what he wishes.”

And damn, he must have been _really_ obvious if _Cas_ picked up on it. He feels a brief flare of panic at the thought that Sam knows too, but suppresses it. He’s a Winchester. The Winchesters are oblivious.

***

“Dude, what the fuck is wrong with Gabriel?” Sam asks his brother.

Dean gives him an innocent look. “What makes you think I know?”

“Dean, you’ve been acting smug for weeks, don’t tell me you don’t know anything!”

Dean smiles slowly. “He’s jealous.”

Sam blinks. “What? Of who?”

“Of Cas.”

Sam’s brow furrows. “Why would he be jealous of Cas? It can’t be because he’s with you!”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. But, yeah, actually, it is. Or, more to the point, that I’m with Cas.”

“Huh?”

“Plus there’s the mark.”

Sam cranes his neck, trying to see Cas’ handprint on his shoulder. “What about it? I mean, he was staring at it, but…”

“You don’t know what that is?”

“Well, I mean, it’s a burn, isn’t it?”

“Not _just_ a burn. Didn’t you ever wonder why I ended up with Cas when I’d never been interested in guys before?”

“Well, yeah, but I just thought–” He’s not sure what he thought, exactly.

“Cas and me, we’re connected,” Dean says.

“Wait, when you say ‘connected,’ you mean…”

“I mean connected. Psychic bonds, empathy, the whole ball of wax.”

Sam claws at his shirt, suddenly freaking out. “Wait, you mean I’m–” But no, he can’t be connected to Cas like that. He’d have noticed.

“No, you’re not. He severed the connection once you were out. I asked him.”

Sam sags, trying to get his breath back. He likes Cas, he really does, but he doesn’t want him in his head. Then what Dean’s saying penetrates. “Then Gabriel–”

“Thinks that you got a tattoo of Cas’ name? Yeah.”

“So he wants–”

“Wants to jump you? At least,” Dean completes for him again.

Sam _stares._

***

Gabriel hasn’t been glaring at Cas lately. His eyes still flash when he sees the scar on Sam’s shoulder, but he’s back to his old self otherwise.

He still sits next to Sam when they go out, but that’s mostly because Dean and Cas always sit next to each other.

He’s been helping out on the hunts, and having an archangel around is certainly useful. But he can’t do everything, and one time Sam gets thrown through a plate-glass window by a ghost.

He looks down to see a bloody shard of glass protruding from his stomach. It hurts, hurts like when he was stabbed three years ago, and there’s a film over his vision. He tries to take a breath and coughs, which just makes the pain worse. Some of the glass must have punctured a lung.

Gabriel’s squatting over him, a fierce expression on his face. “God _dammit,_ Winchester, don’t you dare die on me!”

Sam tries to answer, tries to protest that Gabriel’s an angel, that he shouldn’t be swearing like that, but his limbs are cold and his head is heavy and it’s easier just to lie there.

He feels hands on his stomach, pulling out the glass, screams and blacks out.

***

When he wakes up he’s lying in the motel room and Gabriel’s sitting next to the bed. He pulls the covers aside. He’s not bandaged. He pulls up his shirt and stares. There’s not even a scar.

“You’re welcome,” Gabriel says quietly.

“You healed me,” Sam says.

Gabriel nods tightly, his lips thin.

“Thanks.”

Gabriel nods, then gets up to leave. Sam grabs his wrist. Gabriel stares down at him in surprise.

“The mark is just a mark.”

Gabriel swallows. “Yeah. I know,” he whispers.

“And Cas and me, we’re not–” Sam doesn’t know how to say what he wants to.

Gabriel nods. “I know,” he repeats.

“So you don’t need to…I mean if you wanted…” Sam trails off, frustrated.

Gabriel suddenly grins at him, a familiar smug expression. “Are you propositioning me, Winchester?”

“Fuck off,” Sam mumbles. “I didn’t mean–”

He’s cut off by Gabriel kissing him, kissing him and pushing him back onto the bed.

Sam breathes in sharply through his nose and kisses back.

Gabriel pulls back, peels off Sam’s shirt and presses his hand to Sam’s shoulder. A warm feeling spreads from the contact, and when he pulls his hand away Sam’s shoulder is smooth again. “I don’t want that on you,” he growls.

Sam nods and pulls him down again.


End file.
